Persevering in our Prayers for a Transformed World

 We held our 15th Eco Prayer Meeting on 15th July at 7:30pm at Shipley Baptist Church. As ever, we sought to Learn, Share and Pray.

Learn - the way of Faith

We read the whole of Hebrews chapter 11 together, and asked:

• What is faith?
• What does it do?
• What does this faith do in us? 

You can read our notes in the picture above. In summary:

• Faith is essential to us, and an essential part of God's plan.
• It looks ahead to things not seen.
• It enables great works and perseverance in suffering.
• Can strengthen and sustain us as we look for a restored and transformed world.

Pray

We prayed for:

1. PEACE in Ukraine, Sudan, South Sudan, Congo, Lebanon and Iran.
   Some information about South Sudan (15 years old on 9th July):
• 12.7 million people, very poor, lots of ethnic groups.
• The treaty that ended the 2013-2020 civil war collapsed last year, and there is increasing fighting between the army and armed groups.
• More than two-thirds of the population and around 300,000 refugees in need of some form of humanitarian assistance.
  Tearfund are working to provide aid, support farming, and build peace through local structures
  
  
2. In Venezuela, Tearfund staff have asked that we pray for:
• Tearfund’s local partners respond to people’s needs. 
• Wisdom, discernment and protection for Tearfund leaders as they coordinate the response and prepare for new projects.
• Local churches continue to be a beacon of hope and resilience in their communities. 
• Divine guidance during the recruitment processes for staff who will work on the humanitarian programme.
  
  
3. People suffering in the heatwaves across Europe and the UK.
   
   
4. In Bradford, Reform council leader Stephen Place has said the clean air zone should remain in place, but that the charges should be scrapped, arguing they had a negative impact on businesses. Pray that:
• An agreement can be found that keeps Bradford’s air clean(ish).
• The £3m that funds environmental projects from the charges can still be found somehow.
  (Air pollution contributes to 1 in 20 deaths in Bradford; GP appointments for breathing difficulties are down nearly 600 a month since the CAZ was introduced.)
  
  
5. In the UK, National Emergency Briefing have called for “a prime-time televised emergency briefing on the climate and nature crisis”. This is supported by 99 MPs and some Lords. There is an online petition which has 32,000 signatures. Please pray for:
• MORE signatures, if it reaches 100,000 parliament will debate it.
• More MPs to support the campaign.
• Government to DO SOMETHING, maybe with their annual Statement on the State of Climate and Nature (first one was July 2025)

Please keep on praying for all these things 💚🌍🙏

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 19th August at 7:30pm at Shipley Baptist Church. Use this Facebook event to invite others, hope to see you there!